Sunday was, of course, Mother's Day. All week Aiden has been fretting about getting the perfect gift for me which was adorable and so sweet. Sean made me breakfast that morning and Aiden showed me the little gemstone tree he picked out for me and I read all 487 cards he drew. Very lovely.
I decided that Aiden and I should have some special mother-son bonding time. I spend so much of the day chasing the little ones that it can feel like he only gets a sliver of my attention some days. I decided to take him out for a hike on a local trail. This trail is meant to be more of a glorified walk in the woods than any kind of difficult trek. Despite it being 85 degrees and humid I insisted we wear pants because we have a huge deer tick population in the area and Lyme disease is something I'd prefer to avoid. I even used the real, chemical filled bug spray instead of the crunchy, essential oil stuff I usually put on the kids.
We started our hike and I noticed there were people everywhere, the trail was filled with moms, dads, toddlers and grandmas. It was nice to see everyone out and despite the amount of people it was still very calm and quiet. I did notice that we were the only people in pants. Apparently no one else cares about deer ticks like I do. We followed the trail up through the woods and along a stream and it was gorgeous and peaceful and I just knew Aiden and I were going to have a really special afternoon together, hopefully one we'd remember for awhile.
We had gone through what seemed like the entire trail loop (and a solid forty minutes of brisk hiking up and down slopes) when we came to a sign that pointed to the left AND right with the sign to the parking lot pointing off into nowhere. What the heck kind of Alice In Wonderland crap were they pulling? We headed left and kept going. By now no one else was around. All the babies and grandmas and guys with puppies were gone. Just us. It was sweltering and Aiden was convinced we were lost (we weren't lost, we were right on the trail, I just had no idea how to get OFF the trail). We were both sweating so profusely by then that our pants had become plastered to our legs so firmly it was almost hard to bend our knees.
We were dripping with sweat, he was panicked, I was grumpy and for some inexplicable reason the farther down the trail we went, the faster we went so we were practically running through the forest sniping at each other when Aiden tripped and fell. He sat up and out from a pile of leaves slithered a snake. Boom, Aiden was up and booking it down the trail screaming bloody murder. I ran off after him trying to assure him it wasn't poisonous (it was all of about 10 inches long) and I when I caught up to him he was crying. Turns out he was over the fright from the snake and instead had a gnat in his eye. Then it started to thunder but OF COURSE.
We stood there panting, dripping with sweat, he was crying and convinced we were lost, about to be poisoned by snakes and devoured by flies. Up the trail strolls my dentist and his family, all looking fresh as daisies. I stood there nearly drowning in my own sweat, trying to assure him Aiden was totally fine and it was just a fly, all while gasping for breath. Turns out we were on the right track and headed towards the parking lot.
We ran the rest of the way back to the car, despite part of it being up an incredibly steep slope. Needless to say, I don't think he'll ever forget this Mother's Day. We survived and he slept like a rock last night.
Despite my misguided attempts at bonding, it was a great day, and I was so happy to be surrounded by my amazing family. I am so lucky to have these kids, and I swear to never take them hiking again.
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